America First, Last and Always!

We have several headlines this weekend, casting more doubts about the Federal Bureau of Investigations. News from the Justice Department is that the Inspector General, Michael Horowitz, may be alleging that former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was leaking to The Media before his forced retirement. We already know that James Comey had, at the very least, leaked confidential memos to the press via a law school professor. The latest allegations claim that McCabe was leaking information in the days just before, and long after, the 2016 presidential election. On top of this, we have the FBI response to a FIOA request by Judicial Watch for documents dealing with secret briefings by Comey and McCabe to Barack Obama. We know from the text messages from Peter Strzok and Lisa Page that one such meeting took place in early September, 2016. Another took place on January 5th, 2017. We learned about that one from the email Susan Rice sent herself as she was cleaning out her desk on January 20, 2017.

The FBI had been held in high esteem throughout much of its history, mainly thanks to its public relations and founder, J. Edgar Hoover. However, its history, in truth, has been less than sterling. Many cases were either never solved or criminal acts accomplished despite advanced knowledge. There was also the FBI lab controversy where lab reports were ′gun-decked′ to support prosecutors to convict innocent people. With the recent situation of the FBI misleading the FISA courts to carry out surveillance of a political opponent, namely Donald Trump, a growing number of people are talking about abolishing the FBI outright, turning over their duties to the U.S. Marshal Services.

Frankly, I am not so sure that such a solution is valid, given how the Department of Justice, which resides over both the FBI and U.S. Marshals, looks to be equally involved in most, if not all, of the same problems the FBI are! Indeed, as they say, the fish stinks from the head down. The DOJ leadership is just as implicated in the FISA abuse case as are the top management of the Bureau. Just relying on the marshals and expecting them to do any better seems rather far fetched.

The election of President Donald Trump has turned Washington DC and the Beltway Swamp on its ear. The so-called ′Deep State′ has been exposed. Practically ever government agency, from the IRS and the State Department through the FBI, CIA and NSA were politicized and weaponized by the Barack Obama administration. Much of this began back with the Bill Clinton administration. Perhaps even earlier. Those students of history may recall President John F. Kennedy talking about ″smashing the CIA into a thousand pieces″ following the ′Bay of Pigs′ debacle. President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned America as he left office about the growing ″military-industrial complex″.

Once Donald Trump was elected, the Deep State went into full overdrive to undermine his administration. President Trump had been very critical of the CIA and other government agencies during his campaign. The House Intelligence Committee sent James Comey, Jim Clapper and John Brennan questionnaires to complete about what they knew about the Christopher Steele dossier about Trump and how it was misused to get a FISA warrant. Friday was the deadline and all three men declined to answer the documents. The House Committee will now subpoena them to testify before them in person.

While I am pleased to see all of this effort to learn the truth about what happened, I am not holding my breath for answers. The House Intelligence Committee may be trying to force the DOJ to begin an actual criminal probe, but for now, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a.k.a. Mr. Magoo, has assigned that job to I.G. Horowitz. Horowitz appears to be an honest man and will probably learn much about what happened, but his powers are limited. A special counsel is wanted by the House committee, which would have broad powers, including the empaneling of a grand jury. Only they would be authorized to issue criminal indictments. Horowitz could recommend such once his investigation is completed, but that may take a year or longer. Meanwhile, many of those responsible for the FISA abuse in the FBI and DOJ are still on the payroll and have security clearances.

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